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Landlords will be asked by the DWP to re-verify housing costs when Live Service claimants move to Full Service

The DWP has written to the SFHA to advise that claimants currently on the Live Service will have to declare again their housing costs, which will then prompt the DWP to request landlords for a re-verification.

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The last phase of the Universal Credit Full Service roll out is due to take place from September to December this year. JobCentres to be converted to Full Service include those in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, the Northern and Western Isles, West Dunbartonshire and Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire.

Claimants using Universal Credit Live Service will be expected to make a fresh claim when moving to Full Service, including going through the verification process. In a recent National Audit Office report on UC rollout, verification was one of the problems highlighted, with an estimated figure of between 270,000 and 338,000 claimants who will face delayed payments in 2018.

Re-verification of housing costs requests will be handled in one of two ways: housing associations who are enrolled on the Landlord Portal will receive requests via the portal; landlords who are yet to be offered enrolment onto the Portal will receive an email request.

At present, Universal Credit Full Service is open to new claims, claimants who have changes of circumstances prompting a new claim (known as ‘natural’ migration), and existing Universal Credit Claimants using the Live Service. The ‘managed’ migration of claimants still using the old legacy benefits such as Housing Benefit, JSA and ESA is due to take place between July 2019 and April 2023.

A copy of the DWP letter can be downloaded here and from the SFHA website.

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